Even after his health forced James Panos out of B.M.C. Durfee High School, he never left the community that was born in those halls.

“He was a caring guy, a dedicated guy,” said Les Cory, his friend and colleague. “And he really cared, deeply, about Durfee. When I think of the people I’ve known through my life, Jim ranks right up there at the top as one of the best people I’ve known.”

Panos, 79, the principal at Durfee High from 1978-91, died Friday. His death is a loss to the whole city, his friends say.

“He was just a great educator, he cared deeply about the students there,” said Marilyn Roderick.

Roderick was a city councilor and school committee member, but her introduction to Panos came through her daughter, Meryl (Roderick) Moss, when Meryl Moss was a student at Durfee.

“She thought the world of him,” she said. “He worried about his students. He thought of them as his children. He really was a gentleman’s gentleman. There was nothing phony about him.”

Panos began is career as a teacher during his time in the U.S. Army, where he served as an instructor.

He earned a bachelor's degree from Yale and a master's degree from Brown University and returned to his home in Fall River to teach in the schools.

Richard Pavao, a retired school superintendent who now serves on the school committee, worked with Panos when Pavao was the director of bilingual education programs in the schools.

“He was the most intellectual and knowledgeable principal I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with,” Pavao said. “He brought another dimension to the job.”

Part of that dimension, Pavao said, was from a man who grew up on Cherry Street, the son of Greek immigrants, a man who grew up speaking Greek in his home.

“He always had a basic understanding of the needs of kids who did not speak English,” Pavao said. “He knew how difficult it was to make that transition from a primary language to a learned language.

“He really did have a great heart.”

His retirement in 1991, after a leave for health reasons, did not cause Panos to leave the school, Cory said.

Cory helped found the Durfee Bells Preservation Society and came to rely on help from Panos, he said.

“He was a real go-getter, a person we could always rely on,” Cory said. “We wouldn’t be in the financial condition we would be in right now if it wasn’t for his work.

“He was really dedicated to Durfee and a really great guy. We will all miss him.”